Pioneer AVH-P4000DVD
 

That is the unit I intend to purchase, but I had a question.

I am new to he BMW scene - but very in love with my X5 from a mechanical point of view so far.

I hear fromeveryone (Best Buy and a few other local shops) that they won't install a 'aftermarket radio' into the Bimmer due to their insurance coverages they say "it's too hard, you have to cut away at the dash to get it installed."

Is this true? I'm not huge on the MID unit with ony about 30 working pixels right now, so I'm gettin anxious to buy a replacement. I'd rather get this Pioneer unit though.

Could someone lat me know what (if any) kind of cutting is required to install this thing?

Any help is GREATLY appreciated!

-Zumie

Cut away the dash? Not from my experience and certainly not what my install has told me. I wouldn't even bother taking the X5 to Bestbuy, go somewhere where you will find an experienced MECP certified installer.

There is a bezel made by a member on the board which you can fit a double din unit to, but there is no after market double-din kit available. It will take a bit of fabrication but definitely something an experienced installer can handle.

Thanks for the info - just what I needed :)

No problem, the bezel I am referring to can be found here: www.MyBimmer.net. Its probably the cleanest thing you can get that is available, but I do believe Rich is making an updated version. There are no brackets or mounting material that come with the bezel, so who ever installs it would have to custom mount it and secure the bezel + HU with some custom fabrication, but again, nothing an experienced installer should have trouble doing.

I will be installing mine shortly (Pioneer AVIC-F90BT), I will try and snap some shots of the installation process, as I have not seen anything very detailed on the board.

Good luck!

You WILL have to cut off your radio bracket to install a double din radio. Also, if you want the radio to be centered vertically to work with any of the aftermarket bezels out there then you will need to cut the upper part of the bracket as well. See my post here when I installed a Pioneer AVIC-Z1 a few years back.

http://www.xoutpost.com/bsws-mobile-e...installed.html

This is the top part that will need to be sawed off.
Attachment 30572

They cut mine but who cares!! I have so much more functionality over the factory MID that I really dont even care. Check out my post at the below link.

http://www.xoutpost.com/navigation-sy...estions-3.html

I stand corrected, thanks for the links guys, great info!